CHAPTER13
They were in the middle of eating a pile of pancakes cooked just as Belinda loved them—crispy on the edges and golden brown—when Pedro’s phone rang.
He fed her another bite before reaching for the device and answering. “This is Pedro Morales.”
“This is Easton, Pedro.”
At the sound of her boss’s voice, Belinda scooted off her Daddy’s lap. She pressed her ear against the phone to listen.
“Save this number so you’ll have it. We have a problem. All the doors in the cafeteria just slammed closed. There are people trapped inside. Security is trying to gain access, but the computer system is not allowing them to open those doors. Knox notified me and asked you and Belinda to come take a look.”
“We’re on our way. Give us five minutes. Where is he?”
“At the command center in the basement below Tower A.”
“Got it.”
Pedro disconnected the call. “Let me grab jeans and some sneakers. We’ll dash to your room and get dressed. Grab your phone.”
Responding immediately to the urgency in his voice, Belinda disconnected her phone from the charger and picked up his. She waited by the door for just a few seconds before her Daddy was back at her side.
He whisked her down the hallway to her apartment and inside when she opened it. Quickly, she pulled on jeans and an Edgewater polo before dropping to the floor in her closet to don her athletic shoes and tie them. Thank goodness they’d taken a shower after finally getting out of bed. She didn’t want to show up smelling like sex. My hair!
Dashing into the bathroom, she tried to untangle the wild mess her hair had become. In her haste, she got the brush caught in the back. Tears welled in her eyes as she desperately tried to get it free.
“Little girl, I’ve got you,” Pedro’s voice smoothed over her, calming her panic. Deftly, he unwound the strands trapping the brush in place before taking over to smooth her hair. “Ponytail or down?”
She snagged a scrunchie from a basket on her vanity. “Ponytail, I think. Down is dangerous.”
Belinda loved his chuckle as he secured her hair in a high ponytail where the blond strands would be out of the way. He kissed her exposed neck at the back before patting her on the bottom. “Call Daddy when you need him.”
“Yes, sir,” she agreed with a nod.
“Ready to go?”
“Let’s get down there. I keep waiting for a second call to tell us everything is okay. It must be serious if Knox couldn’t fix it,” she commented.
Within a few minutes, they arrived where a small group of security people dressed in their official polos and others stood around a bank of computer screens and keyboards. Knox looked up from behind one keyboard. Concern lined his face as he met her gaze. Sharon hovered behind him.
“I’m glad to see you. The warning sensors went off at the security desk upstairs in building A. They called me immediately when they couldn’t open the doors remotely or at the location. Soon after, people inside the cafeteria discovered that someone or something had locked them in. Calls flooded in. Easton has talked to them over the loudspeaker, explaining there’s a minor glitch and we’ll get them out soon. That calmed the panic.” Knox detailed the situation quickly.
Immediately, Belinda knew he expected the atmosphere in the cafeteria to disintegrate again. “What have you discovered is happening electronically?”
“The computer system triggered the door locks at exactly nine o’clock,” he answered.
“May I access the coding attached to the door system?” Pedro asked, moving around the desk.
“I just pulled it up for you,” Knox confirmed, shifting out of his way.
Sharon, Fane, and Piper grouped together out of the way as they watched Pedro quickly typing in search functions. At times, different lines would flash a different color as he accessed the coding responsible for various aspects of controlling the door. After several minutes, Pedro looked up.
“What’s happening mirrors the automatic response when a fire takes place. The doors would shut to close off the oxygen fueling the fire. People, however, still have the ability to push the door open manually to flee.”
Knox nodded his agreement.
“How often is this coding updated?” Pedro asked, looking at Belinda.
“A piece of code like that? It was put in when the building opened. There would be no reason to touch it unless the doors were replaced or there was a problem with that server. Neither of those things has happened to the best of my knowledge since I started working here,” she answered.